Video Cathunk

Good news out of the UK: court confirms "sweat of the brow" copies of public domain works aren't eligible for copyright. For years, UK museums have been asserting they own the rights to the photos and scans they've taken of the public domain materials in their collections, and charging licensing fees for using those reproductions. Since the original materials are in their collections, and they won't allow other people to make their own license-free copies, they effectively enclosed the public domain works back in copyright. The court has struck that down with an interpretation of the UK's 2009 copyright law which states that that kind of mechnical reproduction isn't eligible for any form of copyright protection at all.